Chapter 1719

Lily's fingers traced the back of Cameron's head, then abruptly stopped. Anastasia and Alexander watched as she slowly withdrew her hand, holding something shiny between two fingers. The glint wouldn't have been visible without the light reflecting off it.

"What was that?" Anastasia gasped. Horrified, she saw Lily remove the object from her father's scalp.

Before Lily could answer, Cameron straightened, his eyes widening as if jolted. He mumbled incoherently and slumped forward, nearly falling from his chair had Anastasia not caught him.

"Dad? Dad!" Anastasia cried anxiously, but Cameron remained unresponsive, his head drooping, his eyelids heavy.

"Lily, what's wrong with him?" Anastasia urgently asked, turning to Lily. Alexander, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes at the thin silver needle in her fingers.

"If I'm not mistaken," he said, "that's an acupuncture needle."

Lily nodded. "That's right."

"Acupuncture?" Anastasia exclaimed. "But Father hasn't had any acupuncture treatments recently. How could there be a needle in his head? Could it be..." She clapped a hand over her mouth, horror dawning on her face.

Lily regarded her intently, then wrapped the needle in a small towel before carefully putting it away. "His vitality is severely compromised, and his blood circulation disrupted. At least the needle is removed. Get someone to take him to his bedroom. We'll discuss this further later."

Anastasia, at a loss, nodded repeatedly. "Immediately!"

After the flurry of activity, Cameron was settled in his bedroom. Despite the commotion, he remained unconscious. He appeared to be dead, except for his erratic, heavy breathing. He was alive, but in a deep, troubled slumber.

Anastasia anxiously watched her father. "Will he be alright?"

"He's stable for now, but his pulse is erratic. He appears poisoned, but it's unlike anything I've encountered," Lily mused.

Alexander interrupted. "Is it different from the virus?"

Lily shook her head, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Yes," she said. "I've encountered increasingly bizarre toxins recently. From a mainstream medical perspective, it resembles a virus; from a herbal medicine standpoint, it's a type of organ-damaging poison. All this…it’s connected to that research institute."